Moinabad Rape: Congress Slams TRS For Inaction

Former minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir today strongly condemned IT minister K T Rama Rao and Home Minister Mahmood Ali for their "inept" handling of the rape and murder case of a young girl in the Moinabad police station limits.

"Minister K T Rama Rao, who is also the Working President of the ruling TRS, tweets about everything on earth. But he decided to stay quiet on the alleged brutal rape and murder of a minor girl on September 25 in Moinabad as the main accused is a TRS leader. Why did he not issue a statement on the first day directing the police officials to take stringent action against the rapist and murderer?" he asked.

Shabbir Ali also slammed Home Minister Mahmood Ali for "inaction". He said that Mahmood Ali must realise that being a minister does not mean that spending his whole time praising the Chief Minister.

"As a home minister, Mahmood Ali should have met the family members of the victim. He should have held a meeting with senior police officials to give them clear instructions that they should act as per law and not spare the perpetrator irrespective of his political affiliation. But, as always, Mahmood Ali kept hiding behind Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's portrait and took no action," he said.

The former minister alleged that the TRS ministers tried to shield the alleged rapist as he belonged to their party. He said that the police initially tried to hush up the case by registering a case of suicide, and even claimed that she resorted to the extreme step due to stomach pain. However due to the timely intervention of Congress leaders the sections were altered.

"On learning about the incident, the Hyderabad City Congress Minorities Department chairman Sameer Waliullah, TPCC spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin and other leaders rushed to the victim's house and gathered details from the family members. They immediately gave a representation to the Moinabad SHO asking for a detailed and fair probe. It was due to their representation that the police registered the case for rape and abetment to suicide. I spoke to Shamshabad DCP N Prakash Reddy and complained that the police were trying to go soft on the accused. Again on Monday, Congress leader & ex-MP Konda Vishveshwar Reddy staged a dharna and met the DCP, which eventually resulted in the police altering the section to the Nirbhaya Act and the Juvenile Justice Act," he said.

Shabbir Ali said that KCR should be ashamed of his leaders who tried to protect an alleged rapist as the victim was a poor girl belonging to the minority community. "We are still not satisfied with the action taken by the police. The family version clearly suggests that the girl was murdered. However the police were trying to show it as a suicide. It would be appropriate if the state government ordered a CBI probe into the incident as it did in the Disha case. KCR should also announce the setting up of a fast track court for the trial. And the state government should give a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the family as the victim was the sole bread earner," he said.

He also condemned MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi for his silence on the issue. He asked why Owaisi did not meet the family members of the victim.

"Why did Asaduddin Owaisi not take a delegation to Pragathi Bhavan to ask CM KCR for a CBI probe into the incident? The MIM's sycophancy towards KCR has reached a level where today MIM leaders are not willing to speak in favour of rape victims and are instead supporting those who are protecting the rapists and murderers. The MIM leaders meet people only during the elections and excel in delivering provocative speeches. But they never come forward to fight the injustices against poor people," he alleged.